The mighty Trojans ‘d-up’ and put six consecutive wins on the board.

The Trojans have hit a stride since their home opener and only loss to date. As the team gains experience and confidence, the coaches look to the future. Coach Cantu give us the inside story.

/LA: Congrats on six consecutive wins. What do you think has changed since the opener?
Coach Cantu: Well, we started believing that we could play defense and that defense is what would win games. We showed that by holding Southern Illinois to 45 points.

/LA: Would you say that defense was a major contributor to the winning streak?

Coach Cantu: I’d say so. Defense is number one. The guys are buying into the concept of five guys working together on defense – all helping each other. The second thing is that, offensively, we’re sharing the ball – looking for the open man. We’re not just taking shots to take shots. We’re also getting to the foul line and making more freethrows than our opponents – and that’s huge.

/LA: Did you notice other changes?
Coach Cantu: There’s a level of confidence now, and leadership is being established little by little. Initially, we didn’t get an exhibition game and we had five men out, so we went into the home opener unprepared. They hit 60% of their shots and really just caught us off guard.

/LA: I’d imagine that having more healthy players has helped as well. Is this the case?

Coach Cantu: Well, we still haven’t had a practice with everybody. But one of our key players is now injury free. He had 20 points in the game against Southern Illinois. He was the missing piece that we really needed. We still have a few more injuries though.

/LA: How did the team react to the opening season loss?
Coach Cantu: I think it might have been the best thing that could have happened to us. It allowed the team to refocus and understand that although we might have some great individual players, we’re not going to have a great team if we don’t work together. Ever since that loss, the guys have taken every practice and every game a lot more seriously.

/LA: Which of the five wins was the toughest?
Coach Cantu: They were all tough in their own way. South Carolina was especially tough because there were 16,600 people cheering against us. It was a huge first step winning our first game on the road.

/LA: What’s next?
Coach Cantu: Now we’re getting ready for the next game – Kansas. We’re excited to see where we’ll be standing after these next very difficult games. We’re really growing as a team and are very optimistic about the future.